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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26048482">Distant Stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palatinedreams/pseuds/Palatinedreams'>Palatinedreams</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate Atlantis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Developing Relationship, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Promises, Rescue, Talking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:47:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26048482</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palatinedreams/pseuds/Palatinedreams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Atlantis has landed on the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco, and Todd has been brought to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, but the IOA want to bring him to Area 51 soon to start experimenting on him. When it becomes clear that some Wraith of the Super Hive have survived the battle and landed on Earth, feeding on humans and killing them in the process, Todd is the only one who can help them. But John's last talk with Todd didn't end well, and now he needs to find a way to make Todd talk to him again...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John Sheppard/Todd the Wraith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Hivemind</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Distant Stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My muse came up with the idea to this fic when I thought about a good prompt, and I couldn't resist writing it myself instead. If you liked this story, please don't be silent readers but let me know! &lt;33</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The hall was crowded, and John really wished to be anywhere else.</p><p>Any other place would be better than the glamorous hotel ball room where the banquet the president had invited to took place – even a Hive filled with lots of hostile Wraith.</p><p>John hated such places, they reminded him far too much of the social events he'd had to endure on his father's estate before he'd escaped them by joining the US Air Force. His mouth hurt from the polite but false smile he had to wear on his face constantly for hours by now, and not even the most expensive champagne could live up to a bottle of his favorite beer. The food had been expensive too, but to John, it had tasted like ashes, and the thought of his last talk with the one he tried so hard to forget for at least a couple of hours didn't make things any better.</p><p>This last talk hadn't gone so well, and John regretted most of the things he'd said to Todd in his anger and bad and confusion, mostly to hide his bad conscience. But it was too late now, and he couldn't take them back anymore. The memory of how the Wraith had turned his back on him to stare at the gray stone wall, dressed in this ridiculous jumpsuit of a similar ugly gray color and his ankles and wrists chained with thick iron shackles, was so painful that John flinched instinctively each time the image flashed before his mind's eye, and he just couldn't get it out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. The last time Todd's stiff figure had rushed back into the center of his focus again had been right during his talk with the president and General O'Neill, and both men had shot him concerned looks when he'd flinched visibly and without any noticeable reason.</p><p>Now he was clinging to his glass filled with champagne and feigning interest in what one of the senators invited to the banquet as well had to say to him, and he heaved a relieved sigh when O'Neill's new adjutant approached them with an expression of urgent determination on his face.</p><p>“I'm sorry, Senator, but there is an urgent call for Colonel Sheppard,” the adjutant said when the senator frowned displeased at the interruption and opened his mouth to protest vehemently. John offered the older man with the red face an apologetic smile, inwardly utterly grateful that he had an excuse to walk away from the unnerving politician.</p><p>“Duty's calling, Senator,” he feigned his regrets, “as much as I wish that we could continue our interesting conversation, but serving our country must always come first, right?”</p><p>“Of course, Colonel Sheppard. I would not expect you to neglect your duties for my sake,” the plump politician lied, and John treated him with one of his most charming smiles before he followed the major to a small office where a laptop was sitting on the desk, the connection with the unknown caller already established.</p><p>“Thank you, Major,” John dismissed the soldier, and the major left him alone with a salute but apparent reluctance, his curious glance lingering on the screen until the door closed behind him.</p><p>John sighed and made his way to the desk, not really surprised when he found Richard Woolsey peering at him through his glasses.</p><p>“Richard, what can I do for you?” he asked, his stomach clenching painfully for a second, because there could only be one thing the civilian leader of the ancient city wanted to talk with him about. John refused to think of Woolsey as the former leader of Atlantis, he wasn't quite there yet, and he wouldn't give up his hope to return Atlantis to Pegasus as soon as possible. Barely more than two weeks had passed since they had landed on the ocean near San Francisco after defeating the Super Hive, but John felt already homesick, and he knew that most of the expedition members who'd been serving in Atlantis together with him for the last years felt the same way.</p><p>A door hidden in the wall to his right side opened before Richard could tell him about the latest news though, and John's eyebrows traveled up when President Hayes and General Jack O'Neill entered the small office. John had made his fair share of secret meetings with important people since he'd joined the Atlantis expedition, but standing face to face with the President of the United States was still special and new to him.</p><p>“Please have a seat, John.” O'Neill gestured to the two chairs before the desk, pulling the one behind it for Hayes and pushing the laptop around until all the three of them could see the screen that was showing Richard's face. John took the seat before the desk, and the president did the same on the chair behind it, while O'Neill preferred to sit on the edge of the desk.</p><p>“Good evening, Richard,” Hayes greeted the member of the IOA who'd done an extraordinary job in Atlantis in John's opinion, and Woolsey smiled with a nod of his head, but he looked worn out and as if he'd felt sick to his stomach with disgust – which he probably did regarding what he'd been unable to prevent from happening.</p><p>“Good evening, Mr. President,” Richard murmured, his eyes searching John's gaze, and the knot in his own stomach grew bigger.</p><p>“At least twenty Wraith fighters have made it to Earth,” Hayes now drew John's attention back to him, “we are receiving disturbing news about several unusual murders and fatalities that have occurred in several different towns and villages, located in different states and countries on each continent. The local governments and police departments are still clueless, but from the information we are getting we can assume safely that those deaths are caused by Wraith feeding.”</p><p>John looked back and forth between Hayes and O'Neill. The general was watching him closely, but his expression was hard to read.</p><p>“Uhm, we'd hoped that we'd shot them all, but it was likely that some of them would make it to Earth,” John murmured, and he had the sinking feeling that he knew quite well why he'd been summoned to this secret meeting.</p><p>“Yes, unfortunately.” Hayes regarded him with an appraising look in his eyes, and John thought again that underestimating this man and his iron will would be a terrible mistake to make. Not that he was in danger of doing that, but most people would only see Henry Hayes' jovial smile and his laid-back posture and miss his ruthlessness, John was sure of that.</p><p>“There is one way how we could track the Wraith down,” O'Neill spoke into the heavy silence that had fallen over the small room. He was looking at the screen, but his words were clearly directed at John.</p><p>Richard rubbed his forehead. “I tried to talk to him, Jack,” he gave back, and that he used O'Neill's first name in the presence of the president spoke volumes about his poor state and his despair. The adventure they had gone through together in Atlantis had forged a strong bond of friendship between these two so different men, but Richard Woolsey was always careful to keep up appearances, and that he didn't do that this time was a clear sign that things were going terribly wrong.</p><p>“What did the Wraith say?” Hayes inquired, and Woolsey shrugged his shoulders helplessly.</p><p>“Nothing. He has stopped talking at all. He's sitting on the cot and staring at the wall, not moving for hours. He's ignoring each of us, and I can't keep the IOA from bringing him to Area 51 for much longer if he won't start talking any time soon again.” Richard pulled a face and looked as if he wanted to vomit the next second, and John wanted to do the same at the thought of what would actually await the ancient Wraith Commander in Area 51. It would be worse than any of the horrible things that Kolya had done to him, John knew that for sure.</p><p>“There is one person he would probably talk to,” O'Neill mused, his eyes fixed on John's face now.</p><p>John felt his face drain of any color, and he raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. “Our last talk was not so good. I don't think that he'll ever talk to me again.”</p><p>“Then make him talk to you again, Colonel Sheppard.” Hayes' voice was cold and determined. “Whatever it takes to make him cooperate and tell you the locations of his brethren, do it. We can't have Wraith wandering around freely and killing people on our planet, so go back to him and do your best.”</p><p>John gritted his teeth, but he rose to his feet and saluted. He'd been forced to obey orders he'd hated with all of his heart before tonight, but this order was the one he hated more than he'd loathed any other order in the past, and he hated that he couldn't do anything against it even more than the order itself</p><p>“Yes, Mr. President,” he said coolly, and he could feel O'Neill's thoughtful eyes on his back until the door closed behind him. Jack saw much more than John wanted him to see, but there was nothing he could do to hide his disgust and despair about this special order, and in this moment, John didn't want to hide his feelings from the general either – as Jack O'Neill was probably the one man who understood his feelings better than anybody else in this world did.</p><p> </p><p>*~*~*</p><p> </p><p>“Uhm, hi, Todd.”</p><p>John leaned against the metal door to Todd's prison cell, unsure how to proceed. It had been a long day, and he'd flown back to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex right after his secret meeting with the president, O'Neill and Woolsey, only taking a quick shower and grabbing something to eat before four Marines had brought him to Todd's cell deep in the belly of the Cheyenne Mountain.</p><p>The Wraith sat on the cot with a straight back, just like Richard had said that he was doing, staring at the wall next to the door and ignoring John. His yellow-golden eyes were fixed on a spot on the gray stone, but their expression was vacant and empty, and John's heart clenched with a wave of deepest regret at the miserable sight of the ancient being. The ugly jumpsuit hung around Todd's figure like a sack, but he wore it with the pride and the dignity of the powerful Wraith Commander he'd been for millennia – before Kolya had imprisoned him to torture him for more than ten years and strip him of everything, his dignity, his freedom, his powers and his crews, his life and his faith.</p><p>And yet Todd had been willing to put his trust in John after all he'd gone through as the prisoner of another human, and he'd come to John and willingly laid his life and his well-being in John's hands when the safety of billions of humans living on a planet Todd had no business with had been at stake.</p><p>Only to be let down by the human he'd trusted to honor what he'd done in order to save John's home world.</p><p>That Earth had stopped being John's home world a long time ago didn't justify in any way that he'd betrayed Todd's trust in the worst way possible, acting like the biggest coward imaginable, just because John was too afraid to face his own hidden and secret desires and therefore rather saw the one arousing those feelings in him laid in chains.</p><p>Todd continued to stare unseeing at the wall, and John wetted his dry lips and swallowed.</p><p>“Look buddy, I know that we didn't part on good terms the last time we spoke, but some of your brethren made it to Earth, and they're killing people... and we need your help to track them down.”</p><p>His heart was hammering painfully in his chest, and John was grateful that O'Neill had agreed to keeping the Marines on the other side of the door.</p><p>There was a long silence, and John thought that he'd fucked it up for good this time and that Todd would never talk to him again, but rather let them take him to Area 51 than ever merely look at him again. Therefore he couldn't hide his violent flinch when the Wraith's raspy voice suddenly filled the prison cell, Todd's eyes slowly shifting from the wall to his face.</p><p>“I am not familiar with the word 'buddy', but I am rather certain that this term is not an accurate description of the bond that has formed between us - and which you were so eager to either use to your own advantage or betray it so many times, just like it would suit you best for the occasion. I am not your 'buddy', John Sheppard, and I would be grateful if you left me alone, as there is nothing left to say between us. You've made your point quite clear the last time we were talking.”</p><p>John didn't know what to say to that, and Todd's impassive voice just made everything worse. He was clinging to the astonishing fact that the Wraith had at least graced him with a response to his cautious and more than clumsy approach, so maybe there was the chance left that he could yet talk Todd into helping them against his former brethren one last time.</p><p>“Okay, you're probably right with that, wrong choice of word,” he admitted, “I won't use it again. But you still owe us for what you're brothers are doing to our people.”</p><p>Todd's face closed up instantly, and he averted his gaze from John's face to look at the wall instead again. John wanted to slap himself, but he just lifted his chin up in childish defiance instead.</p><p>“I owe you nothing, Sheppard. I am not responsible for their doing.”</p><p>“They're killing innocent people!” John pulled a face at the loud sound of his own voice, he hadn't intended to raise it so much.</p><p>Todd gazed up at him, his hands with the iron shackles around his wrists resting in his lap. “Wraith feed to survive. Humans often times just kill and torture for pleasure, Sheppard, I of all people must know that. So tell me – who of us are the real killers here – Wraith or humans?”</p><p>It was John's turn to avert his eyes and stare unseeing at the opposite wall this time, and as much as he hated to admit it, but he knew that Todd had a point here.</p><p>“It was your Hive, Todd,” he said after long moments of silence, “your Hive tuned with a stolen ZPM that wasn't yours to take. And now your 'people' are killing mine.” His voice was harsh and strangled with emotions, anger, fear, regret and self-loathing, and Todd's face softened for the tiniest bit.</p><p>“The ZPM wasn't yours to take, either, Sheppard. I did what I did to protect myself and my Hive. I did not intend to attack Atlantis with the Hive, and you know that it wasn't me who revealed the coordinates of Earth's location to my crew – that was the Wraith of another reality. I have in fact known about these coordinates for a very long time, but your secret was always safe with me. When my second betrayed me and I barely survived my escape from the Hive, the first thing I did was coming to you and telling you about the other three ZPMs, so you'd have the chance to fly to Earth and defend your world against my traitorous underling. I came with you to help you – and what did you do to me? You stripped me of my clothes and chained me – again. You took me as your prisoner and threatened to kill me – like you're always doing when you attempt to hide your true feelings from me – and from yourself. All bets are off, like you've once said, Sheppard, and I owe you nothing.”</p><p>John drew in a deep breath. “Okay, maybe you don't...” he grimaced and hurried to correct himself when he saw the look on Todd's face. “Well, you surely don't owe me anything, but please, they're killing people who have nothing to do with all of this...”</p><p>“Give me one reason to help you find and kill my brothers, Sheppard. You took my freedom from me, and soon your politicians and superior officers will come and bring me to a place where I'll have to face worse things than what Acastus Kolya did to me for so long. Tell me one reason why I should help you imprison my former brothers so they'll have to share my fate?”</p><p>Todd's voice was still impassive, but he was looking at John now, and John felt his hopes rising again.</p><p>“You can help us, can't you?” he wanted to know, “you're able to reach their minds and locate them?”</p><p>“Yes, I could. But you can't force me to help you. I have nothing to lose anymore, and you can't threaten me with anything worse than what's already awaiting me from the hands of your people, Sheppard.”</p><p>Their eyes met, and they looked at each other silently for a long time. John's mind was racing, and a brief smile tugged at the corners of his lips when a sudden idea crossed his mind. He hadn't thought of it beforehand, but President Hayes had ordered him to say and do whatever was necessary to make Todd cooperate and help them find the other Wraith, and he intended to do exactly that. Obeying the president's order didn't seem to be so hard all of a sudden any longer.</p><p>“Maybe I can't threaten you, Todd. But I can give you something you want,” he said, holding his breath as he waited for the Wraith's reaction.</p><p>“And what would that be, Sheppard?” Todd asked impassively, and he couldn't keep the curiosity out of his voice, even though he tried to do so.</p><p>John's smile widened, and he gestured up at the ceiling with his hand to emphasize his words.</p><p>“I can give you back the stars, Todd. I can bring you to the top of the mountain and show you the stars of my home world.”</p><p>The Wraith gazed at him, and finally inclined his head. “Very well, John Sheppard. Give me back the stars for one last time, and I will help you,” he said, and John knew that he should feel victorious and triumphant, but instead he just felt like wanting to cry.</p><p> </p><p>*~*~*</p><p> </p><p>After his talk with Todd, John had spent hours with making some phone calls and talking to Richard Woolsey. The IOA had objected of course, not wanting to delay the Wraith's transport to Area 51 for two more days, and General O'Neill had faced some heated discussions with his own superiors as well, but President Hayes had ended all of them and agreed to John's request. Lives were in danger, and John's request seemed to be a small enough price to pay for those lives to save.</p><p>John had had another long talk with O'Neill afterwards, hoping that Jack would keep the promise he'd given him earlier as he made his way back to Todd's prison cell after a few hours of rest and a quick dinner.</p><p>Todd had honored their bargain and told John the locations of his former brethren. It had taken them another couple of hours, and Todd had been exhausted afterwards and looked as sick as John had felt.</p><p>The Wraith they had been able to track down with Todd's help had decided not to spend years in human captivity on Earth when they'd been cornered without any chance to flee, and John was actually grateful for that, as the thought of them experiencing a similar fate like what the IOA had chosen for Todd to face was too awful to merely think it to the end. He was a soldier, and he'd killed people due to his profession, but torturing living beings for days, weeks, months and even years, just because he had the power to do that, was nothing he would ever do or approve to.</p><p>The Wraith was already waiting for him, and his questioning gaze flickered over John's face when he pressed something into his palm when the four Marines accompanying them to the surface weren't looking at him, but he didn't say anything and just closed his fingers around the small item.</p><p>“You can come back later, he's chained, he can't flee,” John said to the young major when they were finally standing on top of the hill near the iron trap door that led into the military complex.</p><p>“Are you sure, Colonel?” the major asked doubtfully, torn between his original orders not to let the dangerous alien out of sight and his urge to do as he'd been told by a higher ranking officer, and John nodded.</p><p>“Yes, I am. He has nowhere to go anyway.”</p><p>“It could try to flee despite the shackles, Colonel,” the major objected, and John felt his features harden.</p><p>“<em>He. </em>He's not an 'it' - and he has nowhere to go without his brethren. Wraith need the connection with their Hive and to each other, and I am the closest thing to this connection here on Earth after he's lost his Hive and his brothers, so leave us alone. He won't run away, just give us two hours, please.”</p><p>This was at least the truth, because Todd wouldn't leave the mountain running on his two feet when he would leave Earth, John had made sure of that.</p><p>The major lifted his chin up as he struggled to come to a decision, but John's hard glare had the desired effect at last, and he waved at his underlings to follow him as they disappeared in the darkness to secure the area.</p><p>“Two hours, Colonel, not one more minute,” he declared, and then they were gone and John finally alone with Todd.</p><p>Todd stood there motionless, watching John as he dealt with the Marines, and when they were gone, he craned his head back to look up at the distant stars blinking in the velvety vastness of the black sky.</p><p>“Tell me more about your stars, John Shepparrrd,” he inquired, “tell me more about the constellations and the tales and legends behind them.”</p><p>John smiled at him and lay down onto grass, beckoning the Wraith to follow his example. “There is Ursa Major,” he began to explain the star constellations to him, his hand finding Todd's right hand to cup it of its own will. He drew it back again when he realized what he was doing, and he avoided the Wraith's glittering gaze, but he was still smiling, and his voice was firm when he continued to talk and tell Todd the tales of the stars.</p><p>The Wraith turned his head to watch him as he talked, and his alien yellow-golden cat's eyes never left his face, the intensive glance out of them feeling like a caress on John's heated face as Todd listened to him with rapt devotion, their fingers resting next to each other on the grass almost touching the whole time.</p><p> </p><p>*~*~*</p><p> </p><p>It was like slowly waking up from a dream, and John's voice was hoarse from all the talking, but he didn't regret what he'd done – nor could he ever regret what he was about to do.</p><p>The two hours were almost over, and John knew that the guards would soon come back to search for them - and that there was only little time left for them before they would have to take different paths and walk away from each other. He started to feel nervous, and Todd seemed to sense his inner turmoil and his fear and rose quickly to his feet to look around and check the dark shadows between the bushes. He hadn't used the key to his chains John had given him earlier so far, and John felt humble that Todd still seemed willing to protect him and not use John's trust in him against him.</p><p>John got up to his feet as well to face Todd and finally reveal to him what this was all about. The Wraith deserved to know what John had planned, even though it seemed that his carefully set up plan was doomed to fail.</p><p>“There is something you want to tell me, Sheppard?” the Wraith inquired when he saw the look on John's face, and John nodded his head.</p><p>“Yes, there is. I was actually hoping that...” he started to explain, but the anxiously awaited and yet somewhat unexpected beeping of his radio distracted John for a moment, and he tapped it and listened to the voice on the other end of the line silently for a moment.</p><p>“Is something wrong, Sheppard?” Todd asked as he watched him, his impassive voice hiding any concern or other feelings he must have regarding what was awaiting him the next morning.</p><p>John met his glittering golden eyes, and a huge grin spread out on his handsome features.</p><p>“Quite the opposite, Todd. Everything's fine now. Please step back, your taxi is going to pick you up in a minute.”</p><p>“My 'taxi'?” Todd tilted his head, but he didn't ask what a 'taxi' was, probably getting the meaning of the word from John's expression. “So we will part ways now?” he simply inquired instead, and John nodded his head, a sudden lump of emotion tightening his throat.</p><p>“Yes, it's time for us to part,” he said, accepting that his voice sounded hoarse, “and for you to meet the stars again.”</p><p>“You could come with me.” Todd said, but John shook his head.</p><p>“I'll be fine, don't worry. Atlantis needs me,” he said, and the Wraith regarded him, looking as if he wanted to object, but then he just nodded as he accepted John's decision and took a few steps backwards like John had requested that he would do. Voices became audible in the distance, it wouldn't be long now until the guards would find them to take Todd back to his prison cell. John hoped that Bra'tac would come before they did, and he cleared his throat and lifted his chin up.</p><p>“The one who's coming to pick you up – the people I asked to help me save you from the IOA - they trust him with you – <em>I</em> trust him with you. I hope that I can trust you when it comes to him, as well.”</p><p>Todd inclined his head to a bow of acknowledgment. “I would not betray your trust, John Sheppard – nor would I think of harming my savior in a galaxy so far away from my home.”</p><p>John kept his face straight with some effort. “I didn't think you would, but I had to ask,” he said with a shrug and an apologetic crooked smile.</p><p>“We have made progress if you've come to trust me that far that you're willing to let me go and travel through your galaxy, Sheppard.” The Wraith stated, his eyes roaming over John's face as if he wanted to burn the sight of John standing there under the starry sky into his memory, and the smile tugging at his lips was not the usual contorted grimace Wraith showed when they were smiling, but a real smile, soft and wistful.</p><p>“I guess we have, Todd,” John agreed hoarsely, and the Wraith inclined his head thoughtfully, his smile slowly fading and giving way to another emotion John was afraid to acknowledge.</p><p>“Please, tell me just one more thing, Sheppard. If we were to meet again, will we be enemies again, then?” he inquired quietly, and John had to swallow when the images of another time when they had stood under the stars to say goodbye to each other like this were filling his mind and his memory. Not more than three years lay between this first time and now, but it seemed as if an entire lifetime had passed since that fateful night. He shrugged his shoulders as nonchalantly as possible to hide his inner turmoil and returned the smile with one of his crooked grins.</p><p>“All bets are off now, Todd, so who knows?” he gave back, but he smiled at him, and he wanted to say so much more, but he couldn't. The voices of the Marines were close now, calling out for them when they caught sight of them.</p><p>“There they are! Time is over now, Colonel! We'll have to bring the Wraith back!” The first one called, but in this moment the ring transporter John had been waiting for materialized with a flash of bright light right where Todd was standing, taking the Wraith back to the ship with it before the Marines could shoot him with their stunners. They stopped abruptly and cried out in dismay and betrayal, but John simply ignored them, craning his head back to watch the distant stars he'd promised Todd to show them to him.</p><p>One of these stars was Master Bra'tac's ship, and John hoped that O'Neill's friend would find a place where Todd would be safe from the grasp of the IOA and the politicians who wanted to get their hands on the Wraith to use him for their cruel and disgusting experiments. He smiled briefly when he thought that Todd and Master Bra'tac had actually much in common. Both were rather old and had seen much more than most people would ever see, they were both wise and strong leaders, and they were both fighting for peace and freedom for their people.</p><p>It had taken John a long time to come to this realization, but now that he had, he wouldn't forget it again. He stared up at the dark sky with all its blinking lights – distant stars with worlds full of life. Alien and human life, but all of them worth to be protected and with the same right of existence.</p><p>One of the lights flashed and then disappeared when Bra'tac's ship entered hyper space with Todd on board, and John followed it with his eyes until he couldn't see it any longer.</p><p>“One day, we will meet again, Todd,” John murmured to himself, “and when we do, I will take you back home to your own stars.”</p><p>He waited for a moment, but there was no response. Todd was gone, and John needed to go back and find a way to bring Atlantis back where she belonged, back home. He turned around to the Marines waiting silently for him to acknowledge them, and John knew that it was only thanks to Jack O'Neill that they hadn't made any attempt to arrest him yet.</p><p>“He's gone,” he simply said, walking past them to make his way back into the belly of the mountain and report to General Landry that Todd was not on Earth any longer. Atlantis was waiting for him to come back to her and fly her back to Pegasus, and he had a promise to fulfill.</p><p>John sighed at the memory of Todd being taken away from him by the rings as he waited until the Marines disappeared in the dark tunnel and started to climb down the ladder before he followed them after one last long look up at the night sky.</p><p>The stars were still there like they had always been since eons ago, tiny lights sparkling in the vast black distance like precious diamonds. They would always be there, and the thought that they would was comforting.</p><p>John smiled and closed the heavy door behind him to make his way back down under the surface again.</p>
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